Tagged: picasolar

Fresh off a new round of federal SunShot Initiative funding and a $1.2 million round of equity capital, Fayetteville's Picasolar will spend the next 10 to 12 months scaling its solar cells to meet the industry standard.

The $800,000 DOE grant will be matched by $200,000 from Picasolar. Douglas Hutchings, CEO of both Picasolar and Silicon Solar Solutions, said the SunShot awards are the most prestigious and competitive grants a solar startup can receive.

Permjot Valia, an international entrepreneur and angel investor, tells the second-annual Arkansas Commercialization Retreat that he sees several Arkansas startups that are capable of "billion dollar plays."

Picasolar is a University of Arkansas graduate-level startup which created a technology that improves solar cells. It's made an impressive run through the 2013 cycle of national business-plan competitions.

Startups launched from the Walton Business College at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville are earning both accolades at national business-plan competitions and money as viable, high-growth businesses.

University of Arkansas startup Picasolar and Catch-22 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock took home the top overall prizes at the 2013 Donald W. Reynolds Governor's Cup. Picasolar won first prize in the graduate division of the state's top collegiate business-plan competition, while Catch-22 took top honors in the undergraduate division.

Silicon Solar Solutions of Fayetteville has developed a method of improving the efficiency of solar cells by 15 percent, and the patent for its technology has moved from provisional to pending by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.